Lakehead basketball player rushes to help car crash survivor

A Lakehead University basketball athlete demonstrated heroism and kindness when he was first on-site to assist a survivor of a serious car accident.

On Saturday, February 9th, a three-vehicle collision along Balmoral Street flippeda woman’s car upside down. Close by, varsity basketball player Jay-Jay Jones had been driving home with his father, JUCO coach, and a former LU basketball player.

Shortly after witnessing the accident, Jones rushed to the woman’s aid.

“I pulled the door open to see if anyone was in the car and that’s when I saw her. . . . I asked if she was okay and if there was anyone else in the car. She was still panicking so I kept talking to her to calm her down, letting her know that help is on the way,” said Jones.

Once the Thunder Bay OPP arrived, Jones assisted an officer to pull the woman from her car. Afterwards, a medic brought her to the hospital and Jones left the scene after delivering his witnesses’ account.

Jones confirmed that he acted on instinct. “I wanted to make sure she was okay, I wasn’t just going to drive past like I didn’t see because I would want someone to help me if I was ever in that situation.” After he ensured that the woman was alive, Jones helped her as best he could until professional help arrived.

Following the accident and after she had some time to recover, the woman shared a video on Facebook of Jones’s account to the OPP. “This guy stayed with me while I was trapped upside down in my car, hysterically waiting for help,” she wrote above the video.“He kept me calm while we waited, and also helped me explain to our friendly OPP what happened.”

“Would love to find this guy in the video to thank him,” she added.

As a fellow athlete, LUSU President Emma Brightwell has known Jay-Jay for four years and thought his actions to be most worthy of recognition. “Jay-Jay is very humble, but it [cannot] be overlooked that he was willing to risk his safety for the well-being of a stranger; he became involved and left his comfort zone when many would choose not to. . . . This is a true testament to his character. He’s an outstanding guy.”